Florida takes a lot of flak – some of it deserved – but the Republicans who run the Sunshine State’s legislature took a major step toward increasing health care competition, access, and affordability (Gainesville Sun via Veronique De Rugy):
An effort to deregulate new hospital construction continued to advance in the Florida House on Wednesday.
The Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill eliminating the state’s required certificate of need review and approval process for new hospitals, replacement hospitals, conversion of hospitals from one type to another and new specialty services such as organ transplants.
The House itself passed the bill yesterday (Miami Herald). Governor Rick Scott (R) also backs the idea (Health Leaders Media).
This should be a familiar topic to BD readers. Norm Leahy had an excellent takedown of certificates of need (CONs, or as they’re known here, COPNs), about seven months ago. They are based on the laughable assumption that state bureaucrats understand the state of the health care market better than health care providers; they badly restrict growth in the health care industry; and because they limit health care supply, they drive up cost and reduce access (which is, of course, fantastic for existing providers spared the competition).
It is a simple case of microeconomics and public choice economics; so naturally, all the Florida Democrats opposed it.
Ironically, as De Rugy noted, Florida’s CON/COPN regime is not as bad as most (although 14 states don’t have this rent-seeking nonsense at all). Several states are actually more restrictive, including – wait for it – the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Now, sadly, Virginia has Terry McAuliffe as its Governor, not Rick Scott. Still, the Republicans who run the state legislature could show their concern for their constituents’ health care bills by moving against the COPN regime in 2016…and by letting voters know in 2015 that this is part of their plans.
There has been a lot of talk from the winners in this week’s GOP primaries (and their supporters) about moving beyond the battles of the past and focusing on “most of all, doing what’s right.” I’m sure they mean what they say – and they can go long way towards convincing the rest of us (including and especially the general election voters who paid little or no attention to the primaries) by taking on COPNs.
It might very well be enough to ensure the Republicans who run the legislature today are still running it next year.
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